A barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles struck the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, setting off fires at Fujairah’s key oil facilities and forcing a partial shutdown of loading operations at one of the world’s busiest ship-refuelling ports. The assault came as part of Iran’s escalating retaliation against US and Israeli strikes on its territory. Dark plumes of smoke rose over Fujairah as Iranian military officials warned residents near ports and American installations to flee.
The US had been conducting relentless airstrikes on Iran since the war began on February 28, most recently bombing Kharg Island — the nerve centre of Iran’s petroleum export industry. President Trump boasted in public statements that American warplanes had effectively destroyed most of the facility and suggested more strikes were coming. Washington also continued additional waves of attacks inside Iran on Saturday, compounding the destruction already inflicted on the country’s energy infrastructure.
At least 15 people were killed when an airstrike hit a refrigerator and heater factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, according to a semi-official news agency. Israel said its campaign was designed to degrade Iran’s missile capabilities and weaken the country’s security apparatus. Meanwhile, Iranian attacks continued against Israel as well, maintaining pressure on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Trump took to social media to announce that “many countries” would be sending warships to the Strait of Hormuz, naming China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK as potential contributors. Experts noted this was the first public acknowledgment by Trump that the US may not be able to reopen the waterway unilaterally. The strait carries approximately one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies, and its closure had sent energy prices climbing sharply worldwide.
Humanitarian suffering deepened on multiple fronts. In Lebanon, more than 800 people had been killed and 850,000 displaced amid Israeli strikes against Hezbollah. The US embassy in Baghdad issued an urgent evacuation notice for American citizens after an overnight missile strike hit the embassy compound. Six US service members also died when a refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq.